Liberty Tops ECU 156-144

The Liberty swimming & diving team opened the New Year with a 156-144 win over East Carolina, Saturday at Minges Natatorium.

With the win, Liberty evens its season record at 2-2, while ECU falls to 4-3 on the season.

Liberty Event Winners

• 200 Medley Relay – 1:44.41 (Abbie Shaw – 26.21, Heather Gardner – 29.40, Chloe Harris – 25.54, Eva Suggs – 23.26)

• Sr. Eva Suggs – 200 freestyle (1:53.14)

• Jr. Abbie Shaw – 100 backstroke (55.05); 200 backstroke (2:02.02)

• So. Sydney Stricklin – 50 freestyle (24.41); 100 freestyle (52.82)

• So. Grace Isaacs – 200 IM (2:06.08)

• 400 Freestyle Relay – 3:31.50 (Sydney Stricklin – 53.06; Eva Suggs – 52.00; Abbie Shaw – 53.34; Kaycee Cannings – 53.10)

Notable

• Liberty won six individual events and both relays, while ECU earned eight individual-event victories. The Lady Flames outscored the Pirates 24-10 in relays, giving themselves just enough cushion for the 12-point win.

• Liberty’s Abbie Shaw (100 back, 200 back) and Sydney Stricklin (50 free, 100 free) both earned two wins. Meanwhile, Polina Rukosuev (500 free, 1000 free), Caitlin Reynera (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke), Sara Kalawska (100 butterfly, 200 butterfly) and Flanary Patterson (one-meter diving, three-meter diving) all won two events each.

• The Lady Flames posted 1-2 finishes in the 200 free (Eva Suggs, Shelby Kahn) and 100 free (Sydney Stricklin, Eva Suggs). Liberty’s Chloe Harris picked up second-place finishes in the 100 fly and 200 fly.

• Stricklin swept the 50 and 100 free in the same meet for the first time in her career. Meanwhile, Shaw has earned victory in both the 100 and 200 backstroke three at the same meet three times this season.

Historically Speaking

• Liberty is 2-0 all-time against East Carolina in swimming & diving, defeating the Pirates 339-73 in a tri meet that also included Penn State, Oct. 29-30, 2021 at Liberty Natatorium.

• Liberty’s Grace Gooding finished third in one-meter diving, with an NCAA Zone Qualifying score of 266.78. Gooding is the fifth Lady Flame all-time to post a Zone qualifying score on three-meter.

• Gooding’s 266.78 on one-meter ranks fifth all-time in program history in the event. Meanwhile, Meagan Tuohy’s 253.88 is ranked sixth on Liberty’s all-time top performers list in one-meter diving.

• In three-meter diving, Tuohy’s score of 244.50 ranks eighth in program history.

• Liberty junior Rachel Strickland began her collegiate swimming career at East Carolina before transferring to Liberty following her freshman season of 2019-20.

Up Next

The Lady Flames will host VMI next Friday, Jan. 13 at 5 p.m. at Liberty Natatorium.

Pictured: Eva Suggs